A driver who crashed during a high-speed chase with Salinas police on New Year's Day and died from his injuries was identified Wednesday.A police commander told KSBW that the driver was Emmanuel "Eman" Matthew Trejo, 26, of Salinas.Trejo was a lifelong Salinas resident and member of Victory Outreach Church, where he played the drums and sang in the youth choir, according to his obituary. The Everett Alvarez High School graduate was studying at Hartnell College and working at Chic Events before he died.The deadly wreck unfolded at 5 a.m. Jan. 1, when a Salinas police officer had to swerve to avoid a wrong-way driver on Pajaro Street, police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana said. Trejo would have hit the officer head-on with his Cadillac CTS if the officer did not have quick reflexes.By the time the officer-made a U-turn and flashed his lights to pull Cadillac over, Trejo had already hit the accelerator, Maiorana said.Trejo was driving a suped-up Cadillac with a powerful engine, so the car accelerated to 65 mph within seconds. The chase only lasted less than a minute because Trejo lost control of his speeding car, plowed down two light poles, and slammed into a concrete support beam holding up a trestle on East Alisal Street near the intersection of Front Street.Trejo was declared dead at the scene. His nephew, 23-year-old David Trejo Jr., was in the passenger seat, friends and investigators said. The passenger was flown to a Bay Area trauma center, where he recovered from serious injuries.So far, the passenger has refused to cooperate with police, Maiorana said."The passenger is absolutely not cooperative with us. He did not provide us with any information that could help us determine why the driver fled in the manner he did," Maiorana said.Police have not concluded why the driver fled. Maiorana said investigators suspect he was either drunk behind the wheel, or was in the midst of carrying out a crime. Police are still waiting for toxicology test results.A funeral service for Emmanuel Trejo will be held Friday, Jan. 10, at 10 a.m. at Victory Outreach Church on Bardin Road in Salinas. A burial will follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery on Abbott Street.

SALINAS, Calif. —

A driver who crashed during a high-speed chase with Salinas police on New Year's Day and died from his injuries was identified Wednesday.

A police commander told KSBW that the driver was Emmanuel "Eman" Matthew Trejo, 26, of Salinas.

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Trejo was a lifelong Salinas resident and member of Victory Outreach Church, where he played the drums and sang in the youth choir, according to his obituary. The Everett Alvarez High School graduate was studying at Hartnell College and working at Chic Events before he died.

The deadly wreck unfolded at 5 a.m. Jan. 1, when a Salinas police officer had to swerve to avoid a wrong-way driver on Pajaro Street, police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana said. Trejo would have hit the officer head-on with his Cadillac CTS if the officer did not have quick reflexes.

By the time the officer-made a U-turn and flashed his lights to pull Cadillac over, Trejo had already hit the accelerator, Maiorana said.

Trejo was driving a suped-up Cadillac with a powerful engine, so the car accelerated to 65 mph within seconds. The chase only lasted less than a minute because Trejo lost control of his speeding car, plowed down two light poles, and slammed into a concrete support beam holding up a trestle on East Alisal Street near the intersection of Front Street.

Trejo was declared dead at the scene. His nephew, 23-year-old David Trejo Jr., was in the passenger seat, friends and investigators said. The passenger was flown to a Bay Area trauma center, where he recovered from serious injuries.

So far, the passenger has refused to cooperate with police, Maiorana said.

"The passenger is absolutely not cooperative with us. He did not provide us with any information that could help us determine why the driver fled in the manner he did," Maiorana said.

Police have not concluded why the driver fled. Maiorana said investigators suspect he was either drunk behind the wheel, or was in the midst of carrying out a crime. Police are still waiting for toxicology test results.

A funeral service for Emmanuel Trejo will be held Friday, Jan. 10, at 10 a.m. at Victory Outreach Church on Bardin Road in Salinas. A burial will follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery on Abbott Street.